Essay on Policy-making in the Federal System
Today the U.S. government plays a significant role in finding solutions to various public policy-related issues, involving conflicting crosscurrents. Besides, popular government’s responsibility to solve various problems caused by public policy often exceeds the capacity of state and local authorities to respond effectively. Public policies developed at the national level may fail to address the key issues influenced by the great diversity of interests at the local level. Moreover, the effectiveness of the policy is debatable in terms of the constitutional framework of federalism. Obamacare is a public policy that deserves special attention because its effectiveness is debatable. Thesis statement: Obamacare is a new public policy, the effectiveness of which is debatable in terms of the principle of federalism.
Obamacare: background information
Obamacare is one of the federal policies that provide support to Americans in the field of health care. The policy raises the issues of federalism because it requires national, state, and local interaction and invites tension across different levels of government.
The key elements of the policy
The problem Obamacare is supposed to solve is the problem of uninsured, poor American citizens. Although the majority of Americans use the benefits under Medicaid, the so-called working poor Americans do not have health care insurance. This group of American citizens involves those people who “make too much to meet income threshold for benefits but not enough to reasonably afford health care” (Obamacare Simplified, 2013, p. 24).
The history of the policy
Obamacare, or the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, was signed into law by the U.S President Obama in 2010. Today this federal statute represents an important regulatory tool of the U.S. health care system. The policy raises issues of federalism because it is based on the argument that “the law’s expansion of Medicaid violates the principle of federalism embodied in provisions such as Tenth Amendment” (Foley, 2012, p. 36).
Evaluation of the various pros and cons about the policy
Obamacare as a federal policy is a controversial one. The debate about the effectiveness of the policy involves both pros and cons.
The main pros of the policy include: the affordability of health insurance, the expansion of insurance coverage, the use of tax credits by employees, saving money by millions of senior Americans on Medicare insurance programs, gaining access to women’s health services by millions of American women, etc. (Skousen, 2013).
The main cons of the policy include: opting out of Medicaid expansion plans, creation of new boards or agencies, establishment of new programs, changes in the insurance of employees by firms, which may lead to fines, damage to employment opportunities, violation of religious principles in case of increased contraception rate, considerable increase in the tax rate, etc. (Skousen, 2013).
Actually, the pros and cons can be evaluated from two different perspectives.
The policy’s effectiveness
The term “policy effectiveness” refers to a public policy, which provides the opportunities for achieving the desired outcome. Effectiveness can be measured by assessing the policy performance criteria. Obamacare provides the opportunities for increasing the affordability of health insurance through the considerable reduction of the uninsured rate and expansion of public and private health insurance coverage. The costs of health care services for Americans and the government should be reduced.
The policy’s consistency with the constitutional framework of federalism
American federalism’s constitutional framework stands for enhancing democracy through the established laws and regulations. Under the constitutional framework of American federalism, the states can be viewed as sovereign entities, which have their own powers based on the Constitution, and which cannot be transgressed by the federal government. The federal government cannot use the constitutional power in order to force the states to implement certain federal policies (Ferrara, 2012).
The federal policy discussed in this paper is not consistent with the constitutional framework of federalism. According to recent studies, “Obamacare transgresses state sovereignty and violates the constitutional framework of federalism” (Ferrara, 2012, p.1). In other words, the policy’s expansion of the Medicaid program violates the Tenth Amendment.
Conclusion
Thus, it is necessary to conclude that Obamacare involves conflicting crosscurrents. The policy creates certain problems caused by its inconsistency with the constitutional framework of federalism, although the effectiveness of the policy is promising. Obamacare promises to reduce health care costs through more effective health care delivery plan.
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